Love, Adventure, and Messy Hair: Traveling with Kerri and RJ

"Load the car and write the note. Grab your bag and grab your coat. Tell the ones that need to know - We are headed NORTH!" -I and Love and You by the Avett Brothers After Nashville, it was finally time to turn north and start heading home.  We had one more destination we wanted to hit to finish up our trip, and that was Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park.  We drove from Nashville to Staunton, VA - over 500 miles and 7 hours - to be near the entrance to the park. The next morning, we had our last hotel breakfast of the trip (it's uncanny how similar each chain breakfast is!), and hit the road for our final national park of the trip and final day of sight seeing.  Just like when we passed through Oklahoma and Arkansas, we continued to enjoy our newfound appreciation for green.  After spending more than two weeks of this trip in desert areas and coastal areas, the lush green of the eastern states in summer was a welcome sight

"You're as smooth as Tennessee whiskey You're as sweet as strawberry wine You're as warm as a glass of brandy And honey, I stay stoned on your love all the time." -Tennessee Whiskey by Chris Stapleton Nashville was amazing!  It's hard to believe neither of us had been there before - it seems so close to home now in comparison to many of our other stops.  It's hard to go wrong in a city full of good food and good music.  Having never been to Nashville before, we decided to stay at the Omni Nashville , because we had stayed at an Omni for the first time in Denver and really liked it.  The Omni Nashville was probably even nicer than the Denver one.  The lobby area was expansive and had a really nice restaurant for convenience.  The gym was well-equipped and had a beautiful view of the city.  The location was fantastic - just a block or so away from the heart of Broadway, where all the bars and music are at.  The only downside was th

“He’s my baby, and I’m his honey - I’m never gonna let him go.”  "In Spite of Ourselves" by John Prine and Iris DeMent How silly and cute is that song, In Spite of Ourselves?  Didn't even know it was from a movie until looking for a YouTube version to post here.  We definitely did listen to "Life is a Highway" by Rascal Flatts at least once on Route 66, but the song above better represents what was on our playlist and catches the mood of our silly, carefree return trip home.   We needed to head north to catch Old Route 66 in New Mexico for the return trip home.  We had decided to pick up Old Route 66 in Albuquerque, so we had 450 miles to cover and well over 6 hours of driving not counting stops.  So, Day 21 was mostly an on the road day.  The one thing we had heard about New Mexico was how great the Mexican food was.  We were STARVING when we got into Albuquerque.  Unfortunately, the restaurant we picked was suuuuuuper sloooo